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Stagecoach to DenverLambert has the stagecoach...
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DVDs from TCM Shop

Stagecoach to DenverLambert has the stagecoach...
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Brief Synopsis

Lambert has the stagecoach wrecked killing the Commissioner so his phoney replacement can alter Coonskin's land survey. When Red Ryder exposes the survey hoax, Lambert has his stooge Sheriff put Red in jail.

Red Ryder drives a stage carrying his aunt, The Duchess, and a young orphan, Dickie Ray, who is on his way to Denver to live with an aunt he has never met. The stage arrives at Elkhorn, where the townspeople are enjoying festivities provided by Big Bill Lambert, a businessman who has established a stage line between Elkhorn and Denver. The Duchess, whose stage line runs in another direction, christens one of Lambert's coaches, in which Dickie is to ride with land comissioner Felton to Denver. Unknown to the townspeople, Lambert intends to use his stage line to control communications between Elkhorn and Denver, and thereby stop news of his fraudulant land deals from reaching Denver. Knowing that he must prevent Felton from filing his critical report, Lambert instructs his henchman, Duke, to sabotage the coach. The driver and Felton are killed when the stage is destroyed, and although Dickie survives, he is in danger of being permanently paralyzed unless he receives a risky operation. Doc Kimball tells Red to send for Dickie's aunt, May Barnes, as he needs a relative's consent to operate. When Silas Braydon, Lambert's dupe in the crooked land deal, tells him that Red intends to telegraph to Denver, Lambert orders Duke, Blackie and Ed after him. They engage Red in a shootout, but Red succeeds in alerting Denver that May and a new land commissioner need to come immediately. Lambert plots to have the stage carrying May and Taylor, the new commissioner, decoyed, and arranges for two confidence operators, Beautiful and Wally, to take their place. When Beautiful discovers that Dickie's fate rests in her hands, however, she balks at her assignment. After she finally agrees to the operation, she runs to Lambert's office, but he orders her back to Coonskin Boyd's ranch, where Dickie is recuperating, so that Red and the others do not grow suspicious. Beautiful returns, and as Dickie begins to recover, becomes very attached to him. Meanwhile, Lambert has Wally conduct an "official" survey that allots Braydon even more land and results in the eviction of Coonskin. Suspicious about the new survey, Red and his ward, Little Beaver, conduct an investigation that uncovers rigged land markers. While the ranchers, unaware that Lambert is the real instigator of the trouble, organize against Braydon, Dickie's condition worsens and Beautiful pleads with Lambert to send for a specialist. After Lambert pretends to agree, he instructs Blackie to kill Beautiful. Red rescues Beautiful, then confronts Lambert and discovers the truth about her and Wally's identities. Lambert has the sheriff, who is another of his stooges, arrest Red, and orders Beautiful to leave the next morrning. Beautiful disappears, and while The Duchess takes Dickie on the stage to Denver, Coonskin helps Red break out of jail. Beautiful flags down the stage in which The Duchess and Dickie are riding, but does not realize that they are the passengers until Duke attempts to pull the decoy trick again. Duke knocks Beautiful out and drives the coach to the gang's hideout, with Red following close behind. Beautiful regains consciousness and aids Red in the ensuing shootout and tells him that she wishes she could have told him the truth sooner. Red shoots Duke, but when Lambert and the sheriff ride up, Beautiful is killed trying to protect Dickie. Coonskin, Little Beaver and other reinforcements then arrive and help Red capture the rest of the gang. Dickie's real aunt and Taylor are freed, and Red tells The Duchess that Beautiful could not have been all bad since she "finished the race well." Later, Little Beaver and Dickie are playing hopscotch when Red interrupts their game to present Dickie with a pony.